With assist by Preds, new rinks expected to help sport grow

3:49 AM,
Jul. 21, 2013

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Written by

Josh Cooper
| The Tennessean

In his Elite Edge Hockey Showcase jersey, Kyle Kawamura picks up the puck, darts wide around a defender and whips a backhand shot on goal.

The speed and trajectory of the puck is too much for the netminder, who sees it fly past him for a score.

This is the norm for the 14-year-old Kawamura, a Franklin native and one of the nation's top prospects in his age group. Last season, the 5-foot-6, 145-pound forward scored 57 goals for the Triple-A bantam Thunder, a travel team based in the Southeast. Junior scouts at the Elite Edge camp, which ran at A-Game Sportsplex from June 16-19, took notice. ...